Bhubaneswar: A group of talented school students from Odisha, participants of the Olympic Values Education Program (OVEP), were honored to meet with Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today. During this meeting, the students had the privilege of presenting a letter from Thomas Bach, the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). This letter lauded OVEP program on-going in Odisha and its achievements and contributions to the field of education and sports.
In the letter, President IOC Thomas Bach expressed his heartfelt appreciation for the excellent cooperation between the IOC and the Government of Odisha for projects Olympic Values Education Program and the Odisha Ridley Project. He added that it was a great pleasure to meet several children from Odisha at the IOC session and was impressed with their accounts from their OVEP experience. President Bach thanked the Chief Minister for his unwavering support for the Olympic values.
The students Bharati Sabar, Mohammad Hammad Noorain, Pratyasha Sahoo, Somya Ranjan Barik and Suchismita Sahoo enthusiastically shared their unique and inspiring experience of attending the prestigious international IOC session in Mumbai. This opportunity was a dream come true for these young talents and marked a significant milestone in their journey in sports and education.
The meeting with the Chief Minister was a moment of recognition for their exceptional accomplishments and an inspiration to countless young minds in Odisha.
Expressing that it was a proud moment for the state, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik commended the students for representing Odisha on a global platform such as the IOC session. He acknowledged their dedication, hard work, and the pride they brought to the state.
Secretary (5T) V K Pandian was also present during this interaction and congratulated the students for bringing pride to Odisha.
On 24 May 2022, the Chief Minister launched the Olympic Values Education Programme (OVEP) as a pilot project in 90 schools across Rourkela and Bhubaneswar impacting 32,000 students. Currently, the OVEP program runs across 250 schools across five districts including, Khorda, Sundargarh, Ganjam, Puri and Cuttack positively impacting 1, 50,000 students across 2-10 grade. 500 teachers have been trained as master trainers.